Green Bay's Sykes, Oakland's Felder Earn Men's Basketball Honors

INDIANAPOLIS -- Green Bay junior guard Keifer Sykes (Chicago, Ill./Marshall) has been named the Horizon League Men’s Basketball Player of the Week, while Oakland guard Kahlil Felder (Detroit, Mich. /Detroit Pershing) has been named the Freshman of the Week, for the week of Jan. 6-12. The award is the fifth of the year for Sykes and ninth of his career, while Felder collects his third of the year.

Green Bay (13-3, 3-0 Horizon) closed out its non-conference schedule with a 98-62 win over Chicago State on Jan. 7 before the Phoenix remained unbeaten in conference play with a thrilling 93-86 overtime victory over Milwaukee, at U.S. Cellular Arena.

Oakland (7-12, 2-2 Horizon) split its conference games with a 84-75 loss to Milwaukee Jan. 8 but bounced back to stun Detroit in a late rally to claim a 77-69 victory at Calihan Hall.

Sykes started the week scoring 21 points with nine assists in the non-conference win over Chicago State. He continued his conference play dominance with a career-high 34 points and eight rebounds while adding five assists in the overtime thriller against Milwaukee. During his 43 minute effort on the floor, Sykes did not commit a single turnover and scored 23 of his 34 points after halftime. The junior sits second in the conference with 20.5 points per game, while his 5.3 assists per game rank first.

Felder reached double figures in each of Oakland’s conference games, totaling nine on the season. He began the week scoring a career-best 25 points against Milwaukee while making a career-best three shots from behind the arc. Felder continued his offensive effort on the road at Detroit tallying 12 points and six assists. He currently ranks second in the conference in assists per game with 5.1.

Green Bay continues its four-game road trip next weekend, playing at Wright State (11-8) on Friday at 7 p.m. ET, in a game carried on the Horizon League Network and ESPNU. The Phoenix cap-off weekend play at UIC (5-12) on Sunday at 2 p.m. ET, also on HLN. Oakland travels to Cleveland State (10-7) Thursday for a 5:30 ET tip-off, with HLN picking up coverage.

Top Performers for the Week:Vashil Fernandez, Valparaiso (Jr., F) - Tallied six points, seven rebounds and a career-high five blocked shots against Wright State.Jon Harris, Cleveland State (Sr., F) - Scored a game-high 18 points off the bench while adding six rebounds, three assists and one steal in the Viking’s victory over Detroit.Kenneth Lowe, Green Bay (Fr., F) - Tallied six points and four rebounds in the non-conference win over Chicago State followed by an 8 point and five rebound performance in the overtime victory at Milwaukee.AJ Pacher, Wright State (Sr., F) - Mounted the comeback win over UIC while leading the Raiders with 17 points and going 11 for 13 at the stripe.Matt Tiby, Milwaukee (So., F) - Averaged 17.5 points in two games for the Panthers tallying a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds in a win over Oakland. Tiby collected his fourth 20-point game in the overtime loss to Green Bay as he scored 20 points while adding seven rebounds.